Crazier

Medicine (21)

"Yeah you rid me of the blues

Ever since you came into my life"

-The 1975, Medicine

"How'd it go?"

Tessa fell onto my bed next to me, clearly exhausted but smiling just the same. She rested her head on my pillow, mirroring my position of laying on her side and resting her cheek against the soft fabric. "It was fun. I told him you wanted to meet him but Mama said you're sick."

"Just a headache," I murmured, closing my eyes again. She gave a sympathetic hum. "Do I call Sadie, then? I want to tell someone."

"No," I said, forcing my eyes open and ignoring the ache pulsing with every beat of my heart. "Go ahead."

She hesitated a moment, then her smile grew again and she started the gushing that lasted for probably a full hour.

His name was Matthew Sparks. He was seventeen, his hair was blond and always so cutely styled, his eyes were so, so blue. He'd been wearing a pair of jeans and a white t-shirt, but he was so tan it looked incredible on him. He was nice and sweet and everything she had hoped, and she'd gotten so carried away she'd stayed out with him until almost seven and gotten a grounding from friends until her family left.

I closed my eyes. "Sounds like a nice guy, Tess." I murmured, my headache growing as she spoke. She hesitated for a moment. "Want Advil?"

"I took some already."

"When?"

"Two."

She stood up and disappeared, the soft murmuring of voices floating up the stairs. A few moments later, another pair of soft footsteps made their way into my room. "Shane?" Emma asked, sounding a bit worried. "Are you feeling any better? Worse?"

"Not great," I admitted quietly, pressing my cheek to the pillow. "Tess went to get Advil."

"Try and sleep," she said softly, brushing her fingers across my forehead to test if I was warm or not. Apparently not, considering she stood up as soon as Tessa came back into the room and told her she could handle it. I swallowed the Advil dry, closing my eyes again when Tessa sat next to me, brushing my hair back from my eyes softly. She didn't say anything more, not about Matthew or anything else, rhythmically running her fingers through my hair, soft humming lulling me to sleep.

~*~

"Walter!"

The banging on my door was insistent and never ending, and I groaned, pushing my face into the pillow. "Go 'way," I called back, covering my head with my arms. Tessa simply laughed and kicked the door open, smiling brightly at me. "Mornin', sunshine. You look like crap."

"I'm modelling myself after you," I muttered into my pillow, and yelped when she smacked me on the bare skin of my back. "Ow!"

"I heard that."

I flipped onto my back and glared at her, making her laugh. "You suck."

She grinned. "Evan's on Skype."

I raised my eyebrows at her then flopped back on my stomach. "Tell him to call back in like six hours." I closed my eyes again. She sighed. "Shane, get up."

After sitting on me, whacking me with a pillow, and squirting hairspray in my face didn't work, Tessa huffed and walked out, and I went back to sleeping, trying to get back into my dream. It was a good one, where everyone was alright and together, all of my friends from Texas and at home.